The Trouble With Denial

The fact is that technocrats at the IMF and elsewhere made it easier for politicians to delay the reckoning by putting together economic programs that didn’t hang together from day one. With optimistic growth projections, debt dynamics looked a lot better, which in turn made it look like sustainability was around the corner. There is an important lesson here for the next round in Spain. Economists have to do a better and more honest job. When programs don’t add up, they have to say it loud and clear.